KINGS MOUNTAIN -- "Who’ll bid a dollar, two dollars, two and a half, three, three and a half?"

"Who’ll bid three and a half, four, four dollars for one deal?"

"Sold!"

A slam follows as the auctioneer closes the deal. Four fast runners carry items to all corners of the auction house as bidders hold up their numbers to be recorded.

This is the atmosphere of Cleveland County Auctions.

Owner and auctioneer Jason Falls, who also serves as a county commissioner, has decided to close the auction to have more time to focus on other business.

The last auction will be on Monday.

“My wife and I have been praying about what we feel like we’re being led to do,” Falls said. “We just want to be available to do some other things that we haven’t been able to do over the last few years.”

As a county commissioner, Falls hopes to focus more on county business. He also sells health insurance and wants to prepare to help others navigate through the ins and outs of the Affordable Care Act.

“We’ll still do an occasional auction, but we’re not going to do them on a regular basis like we have been,” he said.

'Just have a good time'

At a typical auction, Falls said the house normally welcomes between 200 and 300 people. They hold auctions three times a week, on Monday, Friday and Saturday. For “dealer-draw” auctions, dealers come in from surrounding areas and draw a number, which determines what order they will sell in.

“We allow anybody to come in and sell,” Falls said. “We allow people to bring things in and there could be anything from groceries to appliances to anything you can think of.”

Each dealer has a set amount of time for their items. Falls said you never know what items will be available.

“I’m the auctioneer and I don’t know what I’ll be selling until they pull it out of the truck,” he said.

He also said many people simply come for the entertainment.

“We’ve got a lot of people that come and rarely buy an item, but they get to see a lot of their neighbors and friends, and they sit and talk and just have a good time,” he said.

They also have different food vendors, and try to always use local caterers.

Best thing: The people

Over the years, the people who come to the auctions have helped their community greatly.

“Our auction crowd has got a huge heart,” Falls said. “They’ve donated money to a lot of good causes. At Christmastime, the auction crowd will buy toys and donate them to the police department. I think there were five truckloads of toys last year that they donated. It all goes to our local community.”

Falls said that’s the best thing about the auction: the people with giving hearts.

“That’s really how we found out a lot of the needs in the community,” he said.

He said they always make sure the organization or group is nonprofit and local.

'A family-type atmosphere'

Falls said the auction business was never really a business to him and his family.

“We never really thought of it as a business. It’s a fun thing for us to do; it’s not like a job,” he said. “I have a blast doing it."

He said they’ve gone as long as eight and a half hours without taking a break, but the longer the auction, the more fun it is.

“We love doing them and it’s something that we’ve always enjoyed. It’s like a family-type atmosphere," he said. "People come and we get to know them, and they come back, week after week."

Reach Molly Phipps at 704-669-3339, at mphipps@shelbystar.com or on Twitter @MollyAPhipps.